In these days, the time comes
Luke 2: 1- 14
Preached Canberra Baptist Church, Christmas Day 2007
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered this was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius as was Governor of Syria. (Luke 2.1-2)
In those days... The writer of Luke's gospel is keen to place the birth of Jesus within a specific historical context. It doesn't just happen in the stable of Bethlehem on any old night. It happens at the time when the political master of the world, the Emperor Augustus has decreed that all world should be registered - probably for the purposes of taxation, or the administration of his regime, or any of the purposes of empire that such a bureaucratic exercise would serve. Lest we think this is just a marginal note the writer is even more precise and links it to the time Quirinius was the Governor of Syria. For Luke this context is really important. The birth of Christ didn't just happen any time - it happened in those days, that is, in the day of Augustus and Quirinius, the days when a particular ordering of global power were shaping the earth.
And against this background, the birth of Jesus was to be read and interpreted. Just as Matthew made it clear that the birth of Christ upset the applecart of Herod's power in Jerusalem, so Luke makes it clear that the effect was to flow even further. As he tells us in the opening of Acts, the impact of Jesus would be witnessed in Jerusalem and Judea, in Samaria and even to the uttermost parts of the earth, including the Rome of Caesar. Christmas must always be located within the sweep of global politics. Despite the romantic and personalised nature of our celebrations Christmas is an event of profound significance that affects human politics and the way the world is to be government and lead.
In these days, as we celebrate Christmas and seek to make sense of the incarnation, the coming of Christ into our world, we need to look at the global situation if we are fully understand the ramifications of the birth of the Christ child. In these days, when George Bush is President of the United States, the world's global superpower, when Kevin Rudd is Prime Minister of Australia, what are the implications of Christmas for the way our world is organised? If God is truly with us, global politics too stands under the sign of the Incarnation. The Prince of Peace is not just a warm fuzzy sentiment upon Christmas greeting card but a political reality that has an impact upon the way we order the world. As the Holy Land is divided by 24 foot high concrete walls, as Darfur is ravaged to buy wandering bands of guerillas, as the Taliban and Western forces struggle for control in Afghanistan, and as the war in Iraq continues to rage, what does Christmas have to say to us in these days?
In these days we need to be profoundly aware of the global context in which we live and work. We are a part of the privileged, and the elite of the world. We have food and power and wealth and opportunities. We are cosily tucked in to the skirts of Empire, a loyal ally of one of the world superpowers. In these days we need to know what Christmas means for the shape of world politics. We need to remember that ‘he has cast down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the humble and weak’, that God in Christmas “has filled the hungry with good things but sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1.52-53). We who are powerful and rich must heed this and know that the implications of this event challenge us to locate ourselves in God's coming future, not in the ordering of the world in these days, and order that is surely passing away.
The juxtaposition of the power of Augustus and Quirinius with the birth of a little baby in the stable must have seemed an absurd claim on the part of Luke the writer. And yet we know of the power of Caesar was to collapse in a century or three later, even as the followers of that little baby came to shape and even dominate what was left of Caesar’s empire. So today, in these days we should not allow the magnitude of war or the entrenched nature of oppression cloud our eyes to the impact of the birth of the little one who comes in to every age to bring peace, the one of whom it is said “he shall be the one of peace” (Micah 5.5).
But was not just within the global sweep of history that Luke was keen to place his story. We are not told that these events happened only in those days we are told that the time came when Mary was to deliver her child. Just as the global context, the macro-political environment, was vital to the telling of the story so it was to be grounded in the most intimate way in the private details of ordinary life. The time came when the drama that was unfolding in the life of Joseph and Mary came to fulfillment in that stable.
The time had already come (Matt 1.18-25) when Joseph had had to face his demons and difficulties over the mysterious pregnancy of his fiance. The time had come for him when he had to make a decision, when he finally had to decide whether he would commit himself to this woman despite the strange and marvelous tale she told him.
The time had come (Luke 2.67-80) for Zechariah to end his silence and in a great burst of praise to sing out the greatness of the God he had served her so long as a dutiful priest.
The time had already come for Mary to grapple with the mystery of what was happening inside her pregnant body and sing out the greatness and the revolutionary grace of God the song that is known to us as the Magnificat (Luke 2.46-56).
As we read the Christmas story it is clear that just as it took place in a global context it also took root in individual hearts and minds and lives. It is not some disembodied story of great moments of history, but the story of personal decisions, actions and choices.
And just as in the first Christmas story the time came when things happened in individual lives so at this Christmas the time comes when each of us has to own it personally if we are true to what the meaning of Christmas is.
As it did for Mary, the time comes when a child is to be delivered. There are some women in this congregation who are expecting and more who've recently given birth. They know something of that inexorable imperative of when the time comes.
As it did for Joseph the time comes when we must grapple with the challenge of commitment: whether we will give ourselves to the relationship in which we find ourselves with all of the questions that we may have about our partner, all the unknown and mysterious elements of their life that challenge or intrigue or frighten us.
As it did for Zachariah, the time comes for all of us when we must end our silence, when we must sing out what we have known of God and declare what we believe to be the truth. Zachariah had been mute throughout his wife's pregnancy quietly going about his role as a priest in the house of God, silently fulfilling his duty and unable to speak at all. How many of us find ourselves like that in church? Quietly sitting the week after week going through the motions unable to declare or say anything. The time comes when we have to speak, when we have to acknowledge what we have seen of God’s purpose in our own life and in the world. We each have to decide, what it is we believe in, what it is that we will trust our life to, and where our ultimate loyalties and faith will lie. The time comes when it can no longer be put off.
As it did for the shepherds on a faraway hillside the time comes when all of the singing in the world ends and we have to decide whether we will put down at jobs and all our responsibilities and seriously explore this rumour of great things having occurred. Especially at Christmas the time comes for us to investigate seriously what we have heard and seen, to think deeply about these things and, as Mary did, treasure them in our hearts so that something of the mystery of what happened in Christmas might become real for us.
As it did for Herod the time comes from we have to make a decision as to whether we are going to use our power, whether we are yet to use our social influence and position to hold at bay the word of God Shall we stand against this staggering story of grace breaking into the world, or we will respectfully hear it and be transformed by it?
As it did for Simeon the aged prophet, who held the baby Jesus in his arms and realised that now he could die in peace, the time comes for all of us to face our death and what the meaning of our life has been. Simeon looked at what he held in his arms and knew that his life was complete. In this coming year there will be births for us as a congregation and there will be deaths. We don’t who or when, but for every one of us the time comes. Like Simeon, we need to look at what it is that we hold in our hands and give thanks to God and praise his name, and say “Lord it’s enough! I have seen the shape of your salvation in the world and in my life, and now I can go with peace and joy.”
The time comes when we each have to face up to the challenges of personal life. It might be the challenge of commitment to the one we love, the setting out on the journey of life together. It might be making a declaration of faith, ending our silence and committing ourselves to God. It might be having to name and accept and even welcome our own death, for within the rhythm of life for all of us sooner or later that time comes.
The great mystery and wonder of Christmas is that in these days and as the time comes, God is with us. We do not face the big issues of justice and peace in the world of our own. Nor do we face the issues of personal decision and faithfulness on our own. In both the great world issues and the important personal issues, in these days and in these times God is with us. Emmanuel the Christ child stands with us in the great moments of every life and in the grand events of world history. This is the meaning of Christmas.
This is what we celebrate here today. It is not about a story of 2000 years ago in those days, when the time came. It’s a story about now, in these days when the mystery of God in Jesus invites every one of us to begin to contemplate and reflect upon the way the world is, and the way it will be in God’s future.
It’s a story about now, as the time comes for us to engage with our life and live it strongly and well, knowing that God is with us in all of the decisions that shape our personal futures. This Christmas, as God is with all of us in the world in these days, may he also be with each of us in the events of every day, when the time comes that we must choose how we will live.